You can import and manage guest images in Oracle VM Manager. See the Oracle VM Manager User's Guide for information on importing and managing guest images in Oracle VM Manager.

10.1 Converting a Linux or Windows Host

You can convert a Linux or Windows computer to an Oracle VM hardware virtualized guest image using the Physical to Virtual (P2V) conversion utility. The P2V utility is included on the Oracle VM Server CD. The operating system must be one of the Oracle VM supported guest operating systems. See the Oracle VM Server Release Notes for a list of the supported guest operating systems. The host computer must also have a CPU that supports PAE (Physical Address Extension).

The P2V conversion process creates a virtual machine configuration file (vm.cfg), allows you to make some modifications in terms of sizing of the virtual machine hardware, and then replicates the physical image and transfers it over the network to the server pool's repository using Oracle VM Manager. The image on your physical computer is not changed in any way.

The P2V utility converts disks on the computer to virtual disk images. The first four virtual disk images are created as IDE disks (hda, hdb, hdc, and hdd) on the guest, using the original disk names. Up to seven additional disks are created as SCSI devices (sda, sdb, sdc, and so on). The disk entries in the vm.cfg file look similar to:

The hardware virtualized guest created by the P2V utility must have it's own network configuration. If you use the same network configuration as the original computer, a network clash may occur as two computers on the network may have the same IP and MAC address. When the guest is started, make sure Kudzu detects the network device and configures the new network device.

You can run the P2V utility interactively, or as an automated process using a kickstart configuration file. When you use the P2V utility with a kickstart file, no user intervention is required.

10.1.1 Using the P2V Utility Interactively

When you use the P2V utility interactively, you are prompted for all required information. To create an Oracle VM guest image of a computer using the P2V utility interactively:

Log in to Oracle VM Manager and import the guest using the P2V feature. See the Oracle VM Manager User's Guide for information on importing P2V guest images.

The guest image is created and transferred to the server pool's repository. To cancel the transfer at any time, enter Control+C. When the file transfer is complete, Oracle VM Manager sets the status of the imported guest template as Pending.

Press Control+Alt+Delete to terminate the P2V utility on the computer. Remove the Oracle VM Server CDROM from your CDROM drive. Restart the computer.

The guest image is created and transferred to the server pool's repository as a hardware virtualized guest template.

10.1.2 Using the P2V Utility with a Kickstart File

You can use a kickstart file to automate the creation of a guest image of a physical computer using the P2V utility. When you use the P2V utility with a kickstart file, no user intervention is required. If there are any missing parameters in the kickstart file, you are prompted to enter them.

To use a P2V kickstart file, you must create a file with the P2V configuration options and parameters and place it on a kickstart server. The kickstart server can be made available using NFS, FTP, or HTTP. The kickstart server is set up in the same way as a standard Oracle Linux or Red Hat kickstart server.

To create an Oracle VM guest image of a computer using the P2V utility with a kickstart file:

Create a P2V kickstart file and copy it to your kickstart server.

Insert the Oracle VM Server CDROM into your CDROM drive.

Restart the computer with the Oracle VM Server CDROM.

The Oracle VM Server screen is displayed. At the boot: prompt, enter linux p2v and the protocol and location for the kickstart file. For example, to use a kickstart file called ks.cfg on an HTTP server named http://example.com, enter:

linux p2v ks=http://example.com/mypath/ks.cfg

Press Enter.

If there are any missing parameters in the kickstart file, you are prompted to enter them.

If the kickstart file includes the directive to import the guest image to Oracle VM Manager, a secure web server (HTTPS) is started. A screen is displayed giving the IP address of the computer, and port number the web server is available on. Log in to Oracle VM Manager and import the guest using the P2V feature. See the Oracle VM Manager User's Guide for information on importing P2V guest images.